Missing Link TERM 1 2013
PRINCIPAL’S REPORT What a great start we have had to the year with the Excellence Assembly, Harmony Day, excursions, new classes in Year 8, 9 and 11 Mandarin and many opportunities for students to lead and take part in the life of the school. Year 7 has settled well to high school life and we have welcomed almost 50 new students in other years. Our new and "old" staff members are enthusiastic and are working hard with students to ensure that good quality learning is happening. Sadly, Ms. Kennerson has not been well and Mr. Baines will be relieving as year adviser for Year 8 while she is away. I know Year 8 will make Mr. Baines very welcome in his new role. As this Missing Link shows, students have already represented the school as zone champions in swimming, as ambassadors at school and community events and as members of sporting, debating, mock trial and performance teams. The result is a school where the buzz of learning and participation can almost be felt. Rooty Hill High School Learning, Leadership & Achievement North Parade, Rooty Hill NSW 2766 P.O. Box 70, Rooty Hill NSW 2766 Phone: 02 9625 8104 Fax: 02 9625 4208
Find us on: Web: www.rootyhill-h.schools.nsw.edu.au Facebook: www.facebook.com/rootyhillhs RHHS Alumni Network: www.linkedin.com (GROUP: Rooty Hill High School)
Senior students have commenced their studies towards the HSC and ROSA with many students studying a combination of academic and vocational programs. I would like to thank the GWS Giants for providing two traineeships for students in Year 11 and the other employers who are giving so many students employment while they are learning. Our School Council has met twice this term and has ratified the school's assessment policy and is considering the new school plan. The P&C has met twice and I would like to congratulate the "new" executive elected at the AGM. Congratulations to Lincoln Jurd (president), Rodney Johnson (vice president), Gail Thick (secretary) and Debbie Johns (treasurer). All parents are welcome to come to P&C and it was a genuine pleasure to see a number of new parents at this year's meetings. Our school uniform shop opened on 8 April, the same night many parents met the teachers who will teach their children this year to discuss their children's progress in learning. Download our new RHHS App at: app store for iphone or ipad Google Play for android it’s FREE
continued from page 1 Year 7 and 11 have interim reports based on how well teachers judged they have been achieving this term and Year 12 will soon receive their "half course" reports which will be a good guide to what they need to do to do their best in the HSC. This term we have launched some great new initiatives: - a new style school plan and the annual school report, both of which set directions for our work this year and next. - the Rooty Hill HS app which is already receiving great feedback from connected parents and students. - the new website. - the new canteen operators have opened with lots of high quality food at good prices. - $250000 of school painting and repairs to make the school safer for vision impaired students and for all of us. - assessment tasks for the year on the school's Moodle where everyone can access them, and - class profiles for every class to help teachers understand the students in their class from the start of the year. Feedback tells us that most parents are happy with the school and we do ask parents, whether happy or concerned to let us know if we can help in any way. We value lots of contact with parents as we strive to build the expectations, capacity and achievements of all our students and our school community. Finally, after a very satisfying term can I acknowledge that not all students have learnt how to behave yet and we have had to deal with some instances of low level cyber bullying. We do not tolerate it and would appreciate parents letting us know if they have concerns. It is important to understand that conflict is normal and that bullying is NOT conflict. It is deliberate, sustained and is about the misuse of power. The school has longstanding policies and practices to keep students safe and we need parents and students to help us keep the school a happy, safe and respectful learning place. After such a good start to the year I do hope we can all work together this year to be a clever, smart, innovative and kind school. Please enjoy a safe and happy holiday break.
Christine Cawsey 2
Above: Teacher Yesodai Selva at the breakfast with Federal Members Ed Husic, Tanya Plibersek & Richard Amery. Right: Year 10 students Megan Varley, Sharri Sarraj, Amrita Prakash and Brodee Wyatt with Ed Husic
SRC UPDATES Valentine’s Day The SRC worked hard to bring Valentine’s Day to life at RHHS. This is the second year this fundraiser has run and almost double the amount of roses was sold. Over 350 roses were bought and delivered to students on Valentine’s Day. Thank you to all those who took part and a special thank you to all SRC members who assisted. International Women’s Day Breakfast On Friday March 8th 4 students from RHHS had the privilege of going to the Western Sydney International Women’s Day Breakfast held in Parramatta Leagues Club. The girls had the honour of listening to a number of guest speakers celebrate how far women have come in the past century. Tori-Lee Rylewski was invited as a guest speaker and presented on the topic ‘Violence Against Women’. Harmony Day The SRC ran a number of stalls and activities on Harmony Day. A big thank you to all members of the SRC who volunteered their time to organise, set up and work on the stalls. In particular, thank you to Harsha Kumar and Emily Johns of Year 8 and Ashleigh Hanshaw of Year 10 for their work leading up to and on the day.
Chifley International Women’s Day and Coral Maclean Awards On Thursday March 7, The Hon. Member for Chifley, Ed Husic hosted an International Women’s Day breakfast that continued the Coral Maclean Awards for the second year in a row. Four year ten girls: Megan Varley, Sharri Sarraj, Amrita Prakash and Brodee Wyatt represented the school at the breakfast and participated in conversations with leading women from our local community. The school was invited to be a part of the awards process. Ms. Selvakumaran stepped in for Ms. Cawsey to be a judge on the panel for the community awards that celebrate the distinguished achievements of women and young women in our local electorate. Three of our Year 12 students: Missy Tapaitau, Catherine Alviola and Matthew Mangsal featured as the Musical Item at the breakfast. They are to congratulated for their performances that earned them a strong round of applause for their performance of Aretha Franklin’s, ‘Natural Woman’.
UNIFORM SHOP IS OPEN AT SCHOOL MONDAY 29 APRIL 2013 (OPEN ALL DAY MONDAY 29 APRIL)
Open every Monday & thursday 8am-12
HOMEWORK CENTRE SUCCESS The Homework Centre has been successful in term one this year with an increasing number of students accessing the Learning Centre for the program every Wednesday afternoon. Students are offered the quiet space with computers and teacher assistance to help them complete their homework and assignments. The Homework Centre is a great place for students who have limited access to computers, need a quiet space to do their work or need teacher help when completing assignments. It also offers drinks and snacks to keep students motivated after school hours and to get the job done. So next term, don't leave your assignments to the last minute or forget to hand them in. When you get them head to the Homework Centre on Wednesday afternoons from 3:05pm to 4:15pm and get them done! If you need more information please see Mr Hay in the PDHPE staffroom. MOCK TRIAL IS BACK After a successful 2012, the RHHS Mock Trial Team is back competing in the NSW Law Society Mock Trial Competition. The team, Ege K a r s a n a b a s ( Ye a r 11 ) , S a s h a Vucicevic (11), Payge Harding (10), Seilala Latai (11), Caylan Bowring (10) and Breayla Harding (11), won the first round of competition against Caroline Chisholm College. 2013 CASTLE HILL SHOW During the end of 2012, students had the opportunity to design and make a project for their respective area of study. The following students Jessica Youkhana, Zachary Sultana, Thomas Sewell, Joshua McCarter and Faisal Munshid and Priya Sharma entered their items in the 2013 Castle Hill Show Craft Entries for school students, competing against many schools in the Hills area.
YEAR 9 GEOGRAPHY FIELD TRIP Three Year 9 Geography classes walked to Nurragingy Reserve to undertake geographical fieldwork of the area as part of their assessment task. Students were able to use and apply different geographical skills, that enabled them to identify, gather and evaluate the natural and human elements of Nurragingy Reserve.
the biggest groups of students studying this course in the state.
Students enjoyed the hands on experience of fieldwork that required them to sketch, take photos and videos, and observe and work with others. Students showed great enthusiasm about their work and were eager to share different strategies that promote community involvement and help fund and improve the facilities at Nurragingy Reserve. Students were then required to use this information to write a report.
Year 7 students have been introduced to Chinese language through the Pinyin - the Chinese phonetic alphabet, basic writing principals, simple greetings, numbers, self-introduction and my family. Students have presented their posters in class on My Family as their first formal assessment task.
MANDARIN BOOMING @ RHHS Students at RHHS are no longer just studying Mandarin as a mandatory subject in Year 7. Due to some innovative leadership from Head Teacher John Meng and inspiring teaching from our outstanding Mandarin teacher Aili Sun, we now have classes in Year 8, 9 and 11. There are over 40 students opting to participate in a 50 hour elective course focusing on Chinese language, culture and calligraphy.
Students have been extremely enthusiastic and have already been able to compose short essays and use Chinese characters in complicated sentences. Their amazing hand writing in hànzì (Chinese characters) have impressed many teachers.
Big Congratulations to the students who performed Chinese dance on the Harmony day concerts. The students have worked really hard for the harmony day, they were talented, brilliant and they looked fantastic on the stage!
Above: Student work from TAS entered in the Castle Hill Show
The year 9 Mandarin class have been continuing their Chinese language learning through the focus on Chinese hànzì and language sentence structures. Students apply language in different meaningful contexts and compose short essays in hànzì as well as use correct pronunciation to present their work in the class. For the first time at RHHS we have students studying the Chinese Beginners Course in Year 11. It is interesting to note that we have one of
Above: Students working in Mandarin Below: Chinese dancers on Harmony Day
ANNUAL THEATRE PRODUCTION The RHHS annual theatre production is underway, but this time, there’s a difference; the entire musical has been written by a group of our talented students from years 10 and 11. A tale of scandal and blackmail set in a 1920’s mobster war, Gangster’s Paradise has gained a lot of interest in the school community, with many students signing up to be involved in the production. The audition process has begun with the final cast to be released on the first day of Term 2. 3
MATHS ONLINE MyMathsOnline.com.au is an excellent mathematics resource which has been made available to all students at RHHS. Students are able to use this resource to consolidate their learning, catch up any work they have missed, and attempt extension work. To access the resources available through the MymathsOnline.com website, the login is rootyhill and the password is range. To access the homework, students will need to a personalised login and password. Students can contact their teacher if they wish to reset or retrieve their personalised login details. Hope that all students will benefit from MyMathsOnline.
WHATS HAPPENING WITH SCIENCE Year 7 Students in Year 7 have made an excellent start to the year in Science. All students have obtained a Bunsen burner lisence and are well into the swing of conducting experiments and writing up reports. They have learnt how to stay safe in the laboratory, how to use a wide range of laboratory equipment and how to take and record measurements. Well done Year 7!
Mangahigh.com is another engaging, game-based learning website that has been made available to all year 9 students. Mangahigh makes the subject more interesting and accessible. In Mangahigh there are maths games and challenges which students can access on their DER laptops.
Science and Technology Days The Science and Technology Days will be held again this year on 20th and 22nd May. We will welcome Year 5 students from our Learning Neighbourhood primary schools to our science laboratories and computer rooms for a f u n fi l l e d d a y o f s c i e n t i fi c experimentation and computing discoveries. These days are always well enjoyed by the visiting students and teachers and gives prospective Year 7 students a taste of high school.
GIFTED & TALENTED The Mathematics Olympiad competition is a competition for outstanding mathematics students. This competition starts in May and concludes in S e p t e m b e r t h i s y e a r. S t u d e n t s interested in these competitions should see their mathematics teachers. EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES The Mathematics faculty runs the Chess club and also organises student participation in chess and Table Tennis competitions. The Chess competition will be held later this month and the table tennis competition will be held in May this year. Students interested in either chess or table tennis can contact Mr Kumar in the Maths faculty. NAPLAN 2013 In May 2013 the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) will be completed by all Rooty Hill High School students in 7 and 9. In the numeracy test on Thursday 16 May Year 7 and 9 students will not require any measuring tools such as rulers or protractors. However they need to bring scientific calculators which can be purchased from RHHS Student Service Department for $22 each. More information about NAPLAN and example tests can be found at http:// www.nap.edu.au/NAPLAN/ Parent_Carer_support/index.html.
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Senior Science Year 11 Biology have already completed their first excursion which was held at Sydney Olympic Park and involved the study of a local ecosystem.
The Australian Schools Science Competition is to be held on the 5th June. The entry fee is $8.00, due by 12th April. This is a fantastic opportunity for budding scientists to test their skills against students from all over the nation. Entry forms are currently flooding into the science staffroom from all year groups - don’t be the one to miss out! Get your entry form in ASAP. Gardening Club Students involved in the gardening club have been busy weeding and planting a variety of vegetable seedlings into our Vegie Plot garden beds. Our Rosemary bushes have grown well over the holidays and the students have plans to put them to good use during the ANZAC day activities held at the school due to its traditional significance. Y E A R 11 A N C I E N T H I S T O RY EXCURSION On Friday 22nd March, five of our Year 11 Ancient History students attended the Museum of Ancient Cultures at Macquarie University. The students were able to handle ancient artefacts and have a tour of the museum. The students felt the excursion was highly informative and entertaining in its delivery. The highlight for the students was learning about how the Romans
used ‘communal’ toilets and how Spartan men would oil their naked bodies and wrestle with each other! DEBATING 2013 As we embark on a new season of wellmannered argument of intelligently disguised derision, there are a few old favourites and a couple more up-andcomers for RHHS to welcome as their debating representatives. Year 7 & 8 Harsha Kumar, Mae Limbaco, Jaeda Zlomislic, Alexa CruzMorwarid Faiz, Courtney Lockett, Lara Ferri, Anneka Shankar, Kaila Marks & Joshua McGregor. Year 9, 10 & 11 Nash Wiseman, Breayla Harding, Keanna Baldwin-Hartman, Seilala Latai, Justin McCormack, Ege Karsanabas, Amrita Prakash, Sasha Vucicevic, Sana Noori, Jaydon Carling & Jacinta Shiels. Students are welcome to join the teams until the second week of Term 2. If you are considering joining- even if you aren’t ready to debate in front of an audience just yet; come along to our WEDNESDAY LUNCH MEETINGS and get an idea of what we’re all about. The Debaters will be competing in s e v e r a l c o m p e t i t i o n s t h i s y e a r, including; Premiers Debating Challenge and the Western Sydney Debating Competition. Students will also audition for positions in The Legacy Junior Public Speaking Competition and Sydney Morning Herald: Plain English Speaking Award. To begin the debating season, the Year 11 team have provided RHHS with a clear victory against Jamison High School. Debating on the topic “Politics”, this was a debate even Julia Gillard would have regretted missing. Students Breayla Harding, Seilala Latia, Sasha Vucicevic and Ege Karsanbas were outstanding and will now compete against Penrith & Blaxland HS.
TERM 1 SPORT HIGHLIGHTS MOUNT DRUITT ZONE REPRESENTATIVES SWIMMING Alicia Edwards" Year 7 Mirae Hemi" Year 7 Byron Lloyd" Year 7 Nick Maroun" Year 7 Caitlin McInnes" Year 7 Kyle Pont" Year 7 Caitlin Puckeridge" Year 7 Alex Robson" Year 7 Emma Selby" Year 7 Daniel Thick" Year 7 Jaeda Zlomislic" Year 7 Kiata Hemi" Year 8 Nita Jennings" Year 8 Joshua Klumper" Year 8 Chloe Snudden" Year 8 Matthew Varley" Year 8 Rachael Varley" Year 8 Jarred Wright" Year 8 Connor McWhirter" Year 8 Codie Bailey" Year 9 Lachlan Holroyd" Year 9 Tukta Srihapol" Year 9 Blake Giles-Kelly" Year 10 Jason McCutcheon" Year 10 Dylan Patton" Year 10 Emily Powell" Year 10 Caitlin Thick" Year 11 BASKETBALL! Joshua Astridge" Angelo Del Valle"
Year 10 Year 11
Jamison Del Rosario" Utkarsh Raj" Cameron Shelton"
Year 11 Year 11 Year 12
SOCCER ! Brittany Menolotto" Year 9 Feliepe Zapata Castro" Year 10 NETBALL! Shana Stuart " Jade Koia" Annalise Robson" Manika Stuart" Mikayla Finn" Sharlisa Manuhuia"
Year 10 Year 11 Year 11 Year 11 Year 12 Year 12
UNDER 15’S RUGBY LEAGUE! Sione Taufa" Year 9 Brian Too " Year 9 Alan Tuigamala" Year 9 Kitione Vikash" Year 10 Jodeci Taia" Year 10 Dylan Hayes" Year 10 VOLLEYBALL! Ryan Fitzgerald" Paul McCarthy" Jodeci Tukuitonga" Keanan Carroll" Tyrell McCarthy" Mark Torzar" Setaleki Mafi" Seilala Latai" Rose Euese"
Year 10 Year 10 Year 10 Year 11 Year 11 Year 11 Year 11 Year 11 Year 9
Lucky Sanita" Bentonina Laurenson" Taissa Pereira" Charlotte Laurenson"
Year 11 Year 11 Year 11 Year 12
SYDNEY WEST REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVES SWIMMING Jarred Wright" Year 8 UNDER 15’S RUGBY LEAGUE Sione Taufa" Year 9 VOLLEYBALL Ryan Fitzgerald" Paul McCarthy" Setaleki Mafi" Mark Torzar" Bentonina Laurenson " Taissa Pereira" Lucky Sanita" Charlotte Laurenson "
Year 10" Year 10 Year 11 Year 11 Year 11 Year 11 Year 11 Year 12
SOCCER Felipe Zapata Castro " Year 11
The boys AFL team after defeating Glenwood HS
SPORTS SNIPPETS
West Knockout competition with a win BASKETBALL over St Clair HS 3-2 thanks to a last • The boys basketball team has SWIMMING minute goal in overtime. progressed to the second round of • Mount Druitt Zone Champions. the Sydney West Knockout RUGBY LEAGUE Competition. • 27 students represented Mount Druitt • U/14s team won their first game Zone at the Sydney West Carnival. against Plumpton HS 20-8. • 1 student will compete at the NSW • U/15s won the Mt Druitt Cup CHS Swimming Carnival. • 6 boys were chosen to represent Mt VOLLEYBALL Druitt Zone • 13 students chosen to represent Mt Druitt Zone CRICKET • The Opens Boys team lost their round • 8 students chosen to represent 2 match against Plumpton HS. We Sydney West at the CHS Carnival scored 118 from our 40 overs with Ryan Fitzgerald top scoring with 54. • Both Boys and Girls teams are still Unfortunately, Plumpton HS chased alive in the knockout competition. down our total with the loss of only 4 wickets in 26 overs. AFL • U/15s beat Glenwood HS 64-38 in the BASEBALL Sydney West Knockout Competition. • The Boys played against Plumpton A special mention to Reece Morris high school in a high intensity game for both coaching the team and which came down to the wire. The umpiring the game. boys kept their head in the game and SOCCER • The boys soccer team have progressed to round 2 of the Sydney
came back after being behind by 6 runs. Unfortunately they lost by a 2 runs and were unable to take the win.
The boys soccer team after their 3-2 win against St Clair HS
The U/15s Rugby League team after winning the Mt Druitt Cup 5
RHHS STUDENTS AS ACTIVE HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGNERS: We were thrilled to welcome the United N a t i o n s i n t e r n a t i o n a l C h i l d r e n ’s Education Fund’s (UNICEF) Mia Cox and Youth Ambassador Sharn to the school in early March to continue the partnership from Concert for Change last year. This time, the school had been invited to be part of a video on Reconciliation to raise awareness about the importance of the up-coming referendum to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our constitution. The students will feature on a social media awareness campaign for young people and UNICEF have told us that the video is due for release towards the end of May. Students have already been inspired from the event to start a ‘Recognise’ campaign in our own school and we have also had students inspired to apply to be UNICEF Ambassadors!
Kyle Pont (7) & CJ Ryan (11) working on their Aboriginal artwork
ABORIGINAL EDUCATION Aboriginal Education has continued to ‘power on’ in 2013 with initiatives to engage Indigenous and Non-Indigenous students. We have had a number of student lead events, continued our partnership with the AFL Indigenous Academy and have started a promising partnership with the Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience. On Tuesday February 19th, the week after the official Apology at our weekly assembly, two of our Year 11 Students: Jay Edwards and Blake Hicks-Ashton spoke about the importance of The Apology and what it means for Australia 5 years on. Both boys spoke with reference to their own experiences and are to be congratulated for starting the wider student discussion of The Act of Recognition to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the first people of Australia. Jay and Blake also presented a trophy on behalf of the school to Ms. Cawsey that acknowledged the work of the school in NAIDOC Week celebrations last year. AFL Indigenous Academy The AFL Indigenous Academy has started up again for 2013 with more of a focus on identity and cultural awareness in this year’s in-school program. Students have researched their heritage through art-based projects. Leaders: Luke and Matt also led Academy students at our Harmony Day celebrations with local Elder Charlie and the AFL’s Ambassador the year : Young Indigenous Actor Luke Perry. Students assisted in selling crocodile dumplings and fresh damper to staff. The Academy have wrapped up the term with planning session for the next 6
school Mural project that plans to include the individual stories of our students represented visually. Students begin next term with research on their family trees to share their stories and we look forward to them sharing this with our school community. Western Sydney Aboriginal Youth Forum The Western Sydney Aboriginal Youth Leadership Group has started up again for 2013 and this year we are thrilled to report that we have four students representing our school on Indigenous issues. Jay Edwards and Blake HicksAshton were invited to continue on the panel from last year and Carl Ryan of Year 11 and Kiarna Overs of Year 9 are to be congratulated for their successful nominations. Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience ( AIME Visit) Two representatives from the Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience came out to Rooty Hill on March 26 to invite Indigenous Students from Years 9-12 to be part of their 4 day leadership development program at the University of Sydney later this year. AIME is a program that partners University student volunteers with high school students to raise awareness about Aboriginality, culture, careers and developing a path to study option after school.
Young Ambassadors for UNICEF with the Indigenous AFL Academy leaders
NEW FACES IN TAS This year the faculty would Like to welcome two new staff members. Mr Brian Hickey – Head Teacher of TAS. Brian comes from St Clair High School and brings with him a seasoned and professional approach to engaging students with curriculum that challenges them to find their personal best in all that they do. He also brings a wealth of knowledge around best teaching practices based on current educational ideas and research. Mr Shaun Lockard – Classroom teacher – teaching Industrial Technology and Technology Mandatory. Shaun brings with him a passion for teaching students and engaging them in real learning experiences that will support them in the future. He is a dedicated and hard working teacher who has demonstrated best teaching practice that has seen students achieve in the top bands for many years.
WHAT’S ON........ KEY EVENTS FOR TERM 2 Monday April 29 Week 1
Staff Development Day NO STUDENTS
May 6
Tuesday April 30 Staff Development Day NO STUDENTS
May 7
Wednesday May 1
Thursday May 2
ANZAC Assembly Students First Day
May 8
Friday May 3 Year 9 LEAPS
May 9
May 10
White Card Training Day
Week 2
May 13
May 14 NAPLAN
May 15 NAPLAN
May 16 NAPLAN
May 17 Year 9 LEAPS
Week 3
May 20 Week 4
Science & Technology Day MPS & ECPS
May 27 Year 10 Exams
May 21 Theatre Excursion
May 28 Year 10 Exams
Week 5
May 22 Science & Technology Day RHPS
May 29 Year 10 Exams
May 23 ROSA online test opens
May 30 Year 10 Exams
Learning NeighbourhoodYoung Writers
June 3
June 4
May 24 AIME workshop
May 31 Year 10 Exams Year 9 LEAPS
June 5
June 6
June 12
June 13
June 7
Year 11 & 12 Defence Force Seminar
Week 6
June 10
June 11
June 14 Year 9 LEAPS
Week 7
PUBLIC HOLIDAY
Biggest Morning Tea
Year 8 Mandarin Incursion
Zone Athletics
June 17
Week 8
June 24 Week 9
June 18
June 19
June 20
June 21
HSC Trials HSC Trials HSC Trials HSC Trials HSC Trials Personalised Personalised Personalised Personalised Personalised Learning Interviews Learning Interviews Learning Interviews Learning Interviews Learning Interviews Y 10 Work Experience Y 10 Work Experience Y 10 Work Experience Year 11 Crossroads Year 11 Crossroads Year 11 Crossroads Y10 Work Experience Y10 Work Experience AIME Workshop Camp Camp
June 25
June 26
June 27
June 28
HSC Trials
HSC Trials
HSC Trials
HSC Trials
HSC Trials
Year 10 Work Experience
Year 10 Work Experience
Year 10 Work Experience
Year 10 Work Experience
Year 10 Work Experience
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